Cobbossee Watershed District concerned about spread of plant
Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
RICHMOND — A freshwater ecologist from the University of Maine at Farmington has confirmed what no one on Pleasant Pond wanted to hear.
"There's a lot of milfoil on the pond," said Dan Buckley.
Milfoil is not a native variety, but variable-leaf milfoil is found sporadically on the pond. It's an invasive plant that can spread through its roots or by fragmentation across the surface of a pond. 
Staff photo by JOE PHELAN University of Maine at Farmington biology professor Dan Buckley pulls up a specimen of milfoil from Pleasant Pond in Richmond earlier this month. It isn't known if it is the northern or variable-leaf variety. Biologists must wait until it flowers to answer that question. click to enlarge
Variable-leaf milfoil can grow quickly and densely in water, blocking out light for native plants, said Bill Monagle, executive director of the Cobbossee Watershed District.
He had hoped milfoil on Pleasant Pond was misidentified last year. He has a number of suggestions for how residents and visitors to the 749-acre pond can combat its spread.
Buckley, a professor of biology, spent seven days earlier this month with three UMF students mapping the milfoil and measuring depths of the pond. Depth measurement helped with the study, since milfoil usually grows in areas that are shallow and protected by the wind.
The pond has an average depth of 10 to 15 feet.
More than 10 bodies of water in Maine have variable-leaf milfoil in them, Buckley said. He and the students plan to do studies on about eight of those lakes by the end of the summer.
A map he and the students created that charts milfoil locations in Pleasant Pond and pond depths soon will be available, Monagle said.
With greater awareness of milfoil, residents can notice if the plant may be starting to spread to other parts of the pond.
"With a quick enough early response, we can control these colonies more effectively," Monagle said.
Along with providing copies of the map to residents of Pleasant Pond, Monagle said, a laminated map can be placed at the public boat landing on Thorofare Road in Litchfield. The map will warn boaters where milfoil lurks to avoid chopping the plant up with a propeller and possibly spreading it.
Monagle thinks caution is equally important when boats leave the pond.
"With Pleasant Pond, it is imperative that boaters check their boats before leaving and remove all plant life from their propellers, trailer hitches, their trailers — the whole apparatus," he said.
Mary MacMaster, co-president of the Four Towns Watershed Association, said the organization wants to work with both the state Department of Environmental Protection and Cobbossee Watershed District to either eradicate or control the spread of milfoil. The Four Towns Watershed Association includes Pleasant Pond.
She said volunteer boat inspections have shown many boaters on the pond already know about milfoil, and the ones who do not have been told about the threat the plant poses.
Michael Reagan — 623-3811, Ext. 431
mreagan@centralmaine.com